My La Lune arrived safely

[kcb5150]

I just think it a little bit of everything with them. Enough ppl have sort of had the same experience where I just accept for most ppl, the approach and performance window has to be learned and maybe respected a bit more than some other hones. Some stones are just more forgiving than others, I have found. If you hone in high volume, I am sure it helps you here as your senses are constantly being exercised, I hone razors as I buy them or they go south/I want a different finish.

 

[SliceOfLife]

It'd be interesting to see an isolated portion of an edge monitored through, say a dozen shaves after the hone, to see exactly what changes over the coarse of the first few shaves/stroppings. From a few odd checks here and there, it seems the teeth generally wear down, creating a more even, but thicker edge; so smoother feeling, but less sharp. Hitting it once or twice here on an agressive stone like a swaty would bring a bit of the aggressive cutting quality back, ideally without letting the edge condition degrade overmuch. Where this could be interpreted as overhoning would be if you were to remain on the swaty enough to reduce the edge regularity enough that the cutting was actually negatively affected while simultaneously creating a harsher sensation to the skin. Creating that foil edge would certainly be possible, but I expect would require either spine-leading motion or a forward tilt to pressure on the hone. Essentially to accomplish that, you need to cut the bevel near the spine faster than near the edge, which the specifics of the hone shouldn't play a part in, other than hardness and/or lack of slurry preventing the hone from giving sufficiently to correct for it.

 

[Gamma]

Would be interesing to see, sure - I"m not interested enough to execute the investigation though. lol.

I just roll with practical/empirical experience and accumulated data; do one thing, get that result. Don't want that result, do something else. When I get the results I'm after - I just keep doing what got me there.

 

[kcb5150]

Lapped. This one took on an amazing finish to the surface.

 

[Gamma]

Pretty stone. I'll have to find one, I like purple hones.

 

[kcb5150]

You have to be careful buying these off of French sellers. La lune is thrown around as freely as Escher is here almost.

 

[Gamma]

Ahh - yeah, figures. Maybe I'll just wait for a labeled one to roll my way.

 

[kcb5150]

Usually, on the side there will be a stamp that says extra fine. I think you can see it in my other photos. Chamfer style is a big tell, as are the saw marks/finish on non working surface. It mostly comes down to finding ppl willing to take more pics for you if necessary.

 

[kcb5150]

They will usually have a green or white inclusion here or there. IDK if I posted a photo of the bottom of one of these so I will when I am home.

 

[Gamma]

I think one will have to fall in my path - I've never ever seen one for sale. I've only ever seen them on the forums and videos.

 

[kcb5150]

You kind of have to be proactive in order to get one here. Bottom of a lune:

 

[SliceOfLife]

I picked one up on eBay back in 2010, thinking it was a possible Thuri. Wound up selling it here a year or two later as a hard and slow stone that gives a similar finish to a thuri, I think for $35. Took forever to get rid of. Times have changed.

 

[kcb5150]

I only have the special stones to go by as those have been the last two that have been on us eBay but if their prices are any guide post, one of these would probably pull $250-400 now in this form factor, maybe a hair more as they don't pop up as often.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Yeah, they're the latest bubble stone. Went up 300-400% in the past year. Not sure why. There's probably some blog post from someone somewhere claiming they are made out of rainbows and unicorn farts.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Here's a blast from the past, courtesy of gmail.

"

Thank you for shopping on eBay! Your total amount due is $126.59. More details about your purchase are included below.

Item #	Item Title	Quantity	Price	Amount
	Dark Slate Natural whetstone Barber's Razor Hone	1	$66.59	$66.59
	Green/olive patterned Natural Watchmakers Hone	1	$51.00	$51.00

"



An invoice I sent to a bidder who won a 5x2.5" La Lune and Cutlers Green from me in the same week almost exactly four years ago. His grand total? About $125. A few weeks after that I bought another stone that was probably a La Lune on eBay, which according to my emails I loaned to Scott to try, under the mistaken belief it was a very hard dark blue Thuringian. That's the one I think I remember selling on BST, but hell if I can say for sure. It's been years.

Edit: actually, digging deeper, I sold Scott that stone for $75. So there's my memory for you. Maybe he can pitch in if I'm remembering right about it most likely being a MisId'ed La Lune.

The one I sold on BST for cheap was 4x1.75".

 

[kcb5150]

Eeh, compared to what a large, branded thuri costs these days and factoring in performance, they are still priced to buy. Gambling on mystery hones is still a lot of fun, though.

 

[kcb5150]

I didn't get killed on the one in the box, the first one I paid market value for.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Yeah. I think almost all the ones I got into my hands were sold as "Escher type" or something similar. Probably a big part of why I took them for odd duck Thuri's until I saw some labeled ones turning up. As such, back then they were selling for "Maybe Thuri, but maybe not" prices. Even then, a 5x2.5" Escher with a label was a $250-400 stone. These things were going in the $60-100 range. Now that they've got a fancy label to go with them and aren't mystery stones any more, they're fetching real money.

Priced to buy is debatable though. I think it was Sham with one on eBay for $1500 or something insane like that a few weeks ago. If you can find them on eBay without labels or the side stamp, they aren't terrible ($100-200 range I think I've seen them ending? That french seller who always sells a french razor + a hone had Special stone + razor that I think ended at the starting bid of $150 or $175 the other week, albeit with a big chip in the stone.) But unlabeled eschers are cheaper, and frankly, I find Eschers to be a better stone... so I expect the price will level off sooner or later, unless it really is just driven by collectors for their rarity, in which case, I'll just have to live without one in my collection.

 

[kcb5150]

I have a labelled escher as well that I have been playing with, I would say it is an easier stone to get the same level of result consistently out of and the edge you get back from it it is more forgiving than the lune which I feel has the edge in top end keenness from what I've gathered so far from use. It's really hard to assign rankings to hones like these however, as I feel the types of finish they put on a razor suit some blades and not others. I'm perfectly happy to max some of my sheffields out on one of my coticules and shave straight off of that, while with some hollow grounds, I like pushing them as far along as I am capable of with my skill set. Do you use yours with water, oil, or a water/soap water/glycerine mix?

 

[kcb5150]

Like I bought this on the bay a month and a half ago for almost nothing and it is phenomenal. Like a tenner if I recall before shipping. I just hacked off the broken spar at one end, gained a slurry stone and it has been more often than not my go to as it is very very easy to use. There are some amazing deals hiding in plain view on ebay still.